Daily Digest - October 20, 2025

Brought to you by: TCN | By Mike Gibb

 🎉🎂 Happy Birthday to: James Hawkins of Guidehouse, Jeremy Mapes of Mapes Consulting, and Sam Edens of EquiPro Holdings. Happy belated Birthday to: Sean Welch of P&B Capital Group (Oct. 19), Ron Brown of Eagle Group XX (Oct. 18), Meagan Mihalko of Early Warning (Oct. 18), Nicole Gelinas of Cohen & Cohen Law (Oct. 18), Robert Munise of Mandarich Law Group (Oct. 18), Brett Schklar of GROW Powered (Oct. 18), and Joseph J. Rawson of H&R Global Investment Group (Oct. 18).

🎉 Congratulations for starting new positions: Kurt Easthope as Director of Outreach at Complete Recovery Corp., and David Knightly as Chief Operating Officer at TruDecision.

🔔 October Meeting Schedule

🚨 TODAY Monday, October 20 @3pm ET: Women in Collections 🚨

Wednesday, October 22 @3pm ET: ARMTech Innovation Lab

Thursday, October 23 @3pm ET: Platform Pulse

Monday, October 27 @3pm ET: Compliance Chat

Tuesday, October 28 @3pm ET: Vendor Roundtable

Thursday, October 30 @3pm ET: Small Agency TechTactics

Extra Steps to Dispute Debt Count as Concrete Harm Under FDCPA, Judge Rules in Denying MTD

  • A District Court judge in Kansas has denied a defendant’s motion to dismiss a Fair Debt Collection Practices Act case, ruling the plaintiff’s claim of having to spend “additional time, effort, and expense” in informing the defendant a second time that she was disputing her debt is enough for her to have standing to pursue her claims.

  • More details here.

A MESSAGE FROM TCN

TODAY‘S WEBINAR

UPCOMING WEBINARS

Ransomware Attacks Surge 36% Year-Over-Year: Report

  • Ransomware activity continued its upward climb in the third quarter of 2025, according to cybersecurity firm BlackFog. The company’s Q3 2025 State of Ransomware Report shows a 36% year-over-year increase in ransomware attacks, marking five consecutive years of growth.

  • More details here.

Government Shutdown Catches Up to Court System

  • The federal judiciary announced that beginning Monday, October 20, it will no longer have the funding to sustain full, paid operations, marking the first time in nearly three decades that the court system has been forced to furlough employees because of a lapse in government appropriations.

  • More details here.

Compliance Digest - October 20

  • New proposed rules from the Federal Communications Commission and federal bank regulators. Rulings from state and federal courts. Check out this week’s Compliance Digest and get insights and important context from eight different experts — Stefanie Jackman, Michael Chapman, Justin Penn, Mitch Williamson, Lauren Burnette, David Schultz, David Kaminski, and Jim Sandy.

  • More details here.

  • This series is sponsored by Bedard Law Group

WORTH NOTING: A new app that will take fake vacation photos for you from around the world ... Cedar is launching a new service aimed at helping individuals and healthcare providers work through issues surrounding people losing access to Medicaid ... How to instantly reduce anxiety and stress,, according to science ... Family caregivers offer their insights and advice for the hardest unpaid job in America ... Demand for private jets is surging and will keep growing for the next decade ... A list of companies whose sites are reporting outages this morning ... The secret to a great job interview is saying less ... America is in a literacy crisis.

Music Monday, part I

Music Monday, Part II

Webinar Recap: Understanding Digital Wallets and Alternative Payment Channels

As consumers increasingly favor Apple Pay, Google Pay, Venmo, and PayPal, the credit and collections industry faces mounting pressure to adapt. In this webinar sponsored by CSS Impact, a panel of experts explored the challenges, opportunities, and practical considerations of integrating digital wallets and alternative payment methods into receivables operations.

Scott Hamilton, CEO of ARM Tech Advisors, noted that while ACH and debit remain the preferred payment options, digital wallets are rapidly gaining traction. “Consumers can’t unlearn convenience,” he said, emphasizing that simplicity and speed are driving the shift. Trevor Rubel, President and COO of Via, echoed that sentiment, adding that digital wallets represent not just convenience but competitiveness—“They’re going to pay. The question is, are they going to pay you?”

Panelists discussed key operational hurdles, including audit controls, fund co-mingling, and the lack of regulatory clarity around recurring and tokenized payments. Paul Wilken, a veteran operations executive, highlighted the compliance and accounting challenges that accompany digital wallet adoption. Despite these obstacles, the group agreed that early adopters can gain a significant advantage by meeting consumers where they already transact.

As Rob Graff of CSS Impact pointed out, agencies will need agile, API-driven platforms to integrate new payment technologies and streamline operations safely.

🧠 Key Takeaways:

  • Start Small, Test, and Measure: Pilot one digital payment option, analyze acceptance rates, and expand based on performance.

  • Modernize Your Infrastructure: Legacy systems can’t support seamless integration—invest in technology that enables flexibility and compliance.

  • Think Beyond Convenience: Balancing security, cost, and consumer experience will define long-term success in digital payment adoption.

As the panel concluded, digital wallets aren’t a passing trend—they’re the next evolution of payments, and the time to prepare is now.

The Daily Digest is sponsored by TCN